Even in a year with plenty of bear encounters in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, Dale Fetz’s story stands out.
On Friday, the bear, likely a grizzly, was so close to his tent that on Monday, he said, “I could feel its heartbeat.”
Fetz reached out to Cowboy State Daily after reading about other grizzly and black bear encounters around the region.
He’s sure that the only reaction he could think of at the time – to just keep quiet and stay still – was probably what saved him.
That and the fact that her husky/German shepherd mix, Dakota, slept through the whole meeting.
Bear expert Chuck Neal of Cody, a retired federal ecologist, agreed it was good the poo kept snoozing.
“If the dog had woken up and started barking, that would have been a wild card,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “Then it could have gone a number of ways.”
Looking for some privacy
Fetz is an experienced camper living in Choteau, Montana. This is one of the communities that has seen a recent increase in grizzly activity as the bears continue to move restore some of their natural prairie habitat.
He also previously lived in Wyoming, including Park County, which has a strong bear population. And he often visits Glacier National Park, the grizzly’s main habitat.
On his last camping trip at Saint Mary’s Park Campground, he took all the usual precautions.
“I don’t leave food in the tent. It’s all wrapped up or in some hard place that’s quite far away,” he said.
He deliberately chose a spot at one of the far edges of the campsite next to some bushes. He realized the brush might hide or draw in the bear, but he thought it was a trade-off for peace and privacy.
“I had put my tent near the bushes because the people around had turned on their generators and that annoys me. I go there for the quiet,” Fetz said.
Night guest
Fetz said he heard a rustling that woke him up at about 2:30 a.m.
“I thought it was Dakota, but she hadn’t moved,” he said.
Then it sunk in. A bear was close—very close.
“The bear had actually stopped right next to the tent. So it was maybe three feet away from me,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “It was rooting and purring. I thought, “I don’t know what to do.” My bear spray wasn’t with me in my tent and I wouldn’t have wanted to use bear spray anyway since I was in an enclosed tent.
Fetz couldn’t be sure what kind of bear it was, but based on the bear’s apparent size, he thinks it was a grizzly.
“I laid there and just quietly prayed. I called out to Jesus,” she said. “And it just kept taking root. It was there for maybe a minute.”
But that minute seemed like an eternity to Fetz.
“I assumed it could smell me. I assumed it could smell my dog. I didn’t move a muscle,” he said.
After the bear left, he remained still.
“I couldn’t go back to sleep after that,” Fetz said.
“A big pile of…”
When daylight came, Fetz went out. He went to visit his nearest neighbor, a young woman camping in a sprinter van.
“I was trying to think of what to say to him when he walked right up to me and said, ‘Look at this.’ It was a big pile of … well, the ranger came by later and said, ‘That’s a bear’s hole,’” Fetz said.
The women were able to track the bear’s movements based on the pile and disturbed grass.
“He came walking along, did his poop by his van, then walked by and laid right next to my tent and kicked up some dirt,” Fetz said.
“I just wonder what his bear’s thoughts were,” he added.
Did the right thing
Neal, who has spent countless hours in bear country, said he thinks Fetz did the right thing by staying completely still and completely still.
He also said that Dakota didn’t wake up, which is very lucky.
“If the dog had jumped out of the tent and started barking, it might have pushed the black bear away,” he said. “But if it was a grizzly, the bear could have gone after the dog, the dog could have run back to the tent, and the bear could have followed the bear into the tent.”
Neal said the only thing he would have done differently would have been to keep bear spray handy in the tent. He agreed that spraying it inside the tent would have been terrible. But if the situation had moved outside the tent, it would have been good to have the spray handy.
But he warned against “partially used” cans of bear spray.
“You want to keep your bear spray in the trailer, but not the partially used can. Only a new can. The spray residue from an already used can creates an odor that can attract bears,” he said.
Done with bears for a while
Neal added that it’s no surprise that more grizzlies have appeared on the outskirts of Choteau.
“The Teton River there is a travel corridor for grizzlies,” he said.
For his part, Fetz said he’s heard some friends and neighbors talk about seeing grizzlies near town, but he’s not interested in getting a look at them.
“I think my heart has had enough of bears for now,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be picked up at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
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